Sky Tower Hotel Round One
by dghsjhnbmfbg
Summary: Yuko's first match is against a circus girl capable of mind control... And in this arena, if you lose focus for just a second, you could be killed.


Yuko walked down the hall, until she found the door specified. Yuko stared at it, readying herself for the coming battle, and praying that it wouldn't end badly.

She took a deep breathe, blinked a few times, and opened the door.

She was convinced she had opened the wrong door.

This wasn't an arena... It was a long, slanted hallway. The walls were about twenty feet high, for some reason Yuko didn't know.

"I must have the wrong room..." She murmured to herself, turning around to open the door.

She tried to turn the knob but it refused, as if someone had frozen it in place. Locked. This was the arena! Yuko looked around in alarm. where was the other competitor? She was afraid that if she sat down, she'd end up sliding. She held her scythe blade up to her eyes and examined it, making sure it wasn't chipped or weak. She nodded slightly in approval and lowered it to her side once more.

"Hello!"

Yuko's head swiveled. farther up the hallway, there was a girl approaching her. Her hair was brunnette with pink streaks, her clothes were odd, and she was carrying a giant candy cane. She looked like she belonged in a candy factory or something.

Yuko uncounciously took a step back. The girl blinked.

"Something wrong, little girl?" she asked mockingly. Yuko folded her arms across her chest, uncomfortable.

"A-are you m-my opponent?" she asked, gripping her scythe tightly. The girl stared blankly at her.

"Obviously, considering we're both locked in this room."

Yuko blinked curiously. "Who are you?"

"Candy." The girl replied coldly. Yuko nodded.

"My name is Yuko. Pleased to meet you!" She smiled. Candy didn't respond, she just shot Yuko a glare. Yuko ignored it, figuring that Candy wasn't a very talkative person. Yuko was about to say something, but they both jumped as they heard a rumbling sound coming from farther up the hallway. It sounded similiar to a freight train, the roaring sound echoing off of the walls and becoming ear-shatteringly loud. Yuko fell to her knees, covering her ears. Loud noises... she couldn't stand them.

"Frick!" Candy muttered to herself,"I feel that we've just discovered what arena we've been thrown into..." And she immediately started pelting down the long hallway. Yuko stared at her, unable to comprehend the situation. Why was she running? Which arena? What? What was that noise? Why was it so loud? Why couldn't she move?

"J-just... block it out... Yuko..." she murmured to herself, "Think of why you're here..." She slowly rose to her feet. She looked around, doing a quick situation-analysis, and it was then that she understood. She swiftly ran down the hallway, all of her thoughts clicking together in her head.

She hadn't known about the different kind of arenas, but this once was obvious to figure out. There was a large object, probably a giant boulder, rolling down the hallway at this very moment, it's objective to crush Yuko and the girl who was apparantly her opponent. This was a race to see who could survive... The only differance was that interferance was prohibited in normal races.

"Damn!" She cursed, trying to think over the rumble of the boulder. If only she had a way to travel faster, or even a throwing weapon.

Suddenly, an idea hit her.

If she could get her scythe to transform into an elemental weapon, it would help her immensely. However, the only emotion she felt right now was panic. What would be the most useful in this situation? Fire? Air?

That was it! She had to make herself feel sad.

She took a deep and delved into the memories she had always kept locked away in her head. Bad memories. She had plenty of those.

Normally, whenever a memory like that popped into her head, she'd shy away from it and concentrate on something else. It had become a nessesary habit. Now, however, she had to embrace it.

Immediately, a memory popped into her head, as if it was a movie behind her eyelids.

A boy walking away from her without any regret..."Yuko... I'm sorry..."

She opened her eyes and blinked to keep the tears away. Her scythe started glowing a faint blue as water swirled around it.

"Alright!" She exclaimed excitedly. With a flourish of her wrist, water surrounded her boots and she started sliding quickly rather than running down the hallway.

She spotted Candy. Yuko was catching up with her.

Candy noticed this. Her eyes widened in panic for a second, but she quickly regained her composure. Her eyes met Yuko's, and Yuko saw her lips moving, but she couldn't hear anything over the roar of the boulder. Yuko's scythe stopped glowing, and she staggered forward. Oddly enough, she felt a slight calm, like the way you feel right before drifting off to sleep. Without her command, her feet slowed to a walk, and her scythe lowered. "Wh-what?!" Yuko wanted to run, but she couldn't. The boulder was quickly catching up with her. It was as if she wasn't in control of her actions. Her mind kept flickering in and out of a trance-like state, and she had to focus in order to stay concious. It was hard for her to concentrate, nonetheless comprehend the situation.

Despite that, Yuko did happen to notice one thing. Candy had not broken eye-contact with Yuko; She hadn't even blinked. Was she using mind-control? _Hmmm..._

Yuko had to somehow regain control of her body, or she'd be crushed. This girl, was she trying to kill her? Yuko hadn't wanted to kill anyone; It wasn't neccessary to win. Her vision blurred for a second as she was overcome by rage; Candy only cared about herself!

Yuko's scythe burst into flames, emmiting a bright light. Candy blinked, turning her head away from the crackling flames. Yuko felt herself regain mobility of her body. With the large boulder on her tail, she practically leaped forward, grateful to be able to run again. Gripping her scythe, she flicked her wrist outward, sending a small jet of flames toward Candy, who was still looking ahead. She didn't see the crackling flames coming straight at her. The fire burned her skirt, and she jumped in pain and surprise.

While Candy was pre-ocuppied with extinguishing her flaming dress, Yuko bounded forward with a smirk. She was just a few meters away from the door...

But... Yuko glanced behind her. The expression on her opponent's face was that of despair, and Yuko couldn't leave her to die. Yuko's scythe slowly stopped glowing.

"C'mon!" Yuko shouted to Candy. She looked up in alarm, but she continued to run.

When she was just a few feet away, Yuko grabbed her arm and pulled her through the door after her. She slammed the door shut.

"Why'd you save me?" She asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm a naive little child that should stop helping people." Yuko sighed. "And I'm undoubtedly going to get in trouble for this... "


End file.
